


Journey of a High King and Captain

by Highkingeliot



Category: The Magicians (TV), The Magicians - Lev Grossman
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-03-01 11:40:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13294104
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Highkingeliot/pseuds/Highkingeliot
Summary: The quest begins... a bit of a fic for the begining of The Magicians quest. With all the excitement about season three coming soon I did a bit of my own take on the start to their epic quest.





	Journey of a High King and Captain

**Author's Note:**

> A submission for The Welters Big Bang project. 
> 
> Also possible to be a work in progress depending on response. Enjoy!

“Ok. I’ll need…pants…shirts….God that’s obvious…what else?...” I looked around the room and thought carefully about what I would need to take on this trip with me. “Well, I don’t know how long this trip will be or what or who we will run into. Best to be prepared for any situation.” I reached over and tossed a few more pairs of socks into my bag. 

 

I opened my nightstand drawer and pulled out a small box. 

 

“Best take this too…. Could get lonely at sea….” I blushed a bit at my own thought and quickly put the box in my small personal bag. 

 

“My king…I’ve been looking for you.”

 

“Oh, hey Fen.”

 

I turned around and sat on the bed being careful not to spill the contents of my bag on the floor. 

 

“We are all prepared for our journey. The others are finishing their packing now.”

 

“Great.” 

 

She walked in and sat down next to me. She looked at the bed side table and saw the drawer open. 

 

“What’s this?”

 

She pulled out a small book that had the Brakebills logo emblazoned in a golden design on the front. 

 

“Oh, just my journal.” I brushed it off. 

 

“Like your stories?”

 

“Kind of.” I looked away. Please don’t read it. I shuddered slightly at the thought. 

 

I looked over to see it was too late she had opened it. Shit.

 

I reached over and took the book from her. 

 

“Look, if you want to know my stories I’ll tell you, this doesn’t do some of them justice.” I said holding up the book before tossing it absentmindedly into my bag. 

 

“I want to know all I can about you.” She said in a way that reminded me of our first night together. 

 

I must admit I was sort of warming up to her. Perhaps being with her wouldn’t be so bad. 

 

“I’d like to know more about you too.” A deep voice boomed from across the room. 

 

“Oh, Idri, now it’s a party.” I rolled my eyes as he strolled over and sat on my other side. “Anyone else?” I called towards the door. 

 

A small man poked his head around the corner. 

 

I let out a sigh and ran my hands through my hair. 

 

“Ok, Eliot story time in the throne room in five minutes. I am not having the whole kingdom in my bedroom.” I got up and walked out hearing Fen and Idri follow. 

 

I walked slowly thinking of what I would say. Where do I start? Growing up? Brakebills?

 

I walked in the room and sat down on my throne and thought. 

 

“Ok. I’ll tell my little stories but before I do we have to be sure we are ready for this crazy sailing venture we have to go on.”

 

“All will be ready my king.” Fen chimed in. 

 

“Ok, everyone gets one story. For those that I just met here, you can pick or ask a question, the story will be my response. For those that know me…” I glanced over to see Margo glaring at me with her one good eye. “You can pick the story I share.” 

 

“I want to know as much as I can.” Fen about interrupted. 

 

“Ok, I admittedly don’t know where to start and I’m not about to go all ‘when I was born’ over here.” 

 

“Start with this.” Fen handed me my journal. 

 

I looked over and saw Margo roll her eyes…well, eye… and walk out of the room. 

 

“Is the queen not pleased with this?”

 

I sighed knowing full well Margo was still crazy pissed at me for agreeing to this journey and still bitter about the eye thing. I sighed wondering if we’d ever be the friends we were before. 

 

“She’s just…um, well, she knows these stories.” I half lied to just move on. 

 

“Tell us everything, where are you from? What did you do?”

 

“Ok, easy. I’ll get there.” 

 

I opened up the journal. I hadn’t read through this thing ever, really. I just wrote what I needed to and hid it away. 

 

“Here goes.” I took a long, slow, deep breath and slowly let it out. 

 

“I grew up in a small town in the middle of nowhere. There were few houses and lots of fields. That whole how I knew farming thing, that’s where it came from. I grew up on a farm. My parents were farmers. My whole family was into it really. I was the only one who didn’t seem to fit in or absolutely love it.” 

 

I looked up to see them both looking back at me like excited children. I couldn’t explain it but even the simplicities of my everyday childhood enthralled them. 

 

“I was the kid who hid nice clothes in a box under my bed to wear when I wasn’t home and who secretly watched “Dirty Dancing” while sneaking a cigarette with my window open.” I crossed my legs and mimicked smoking. 

 

“It wasn’t all sunshine and daisies. Life was far from perfect. There was this kid, Logan Kinnear, he always beat me up; until one day, walking home I saw him across the street. I looked up and saw a bus coming down the road, I no sooner thought the thought than he stepped out and … bam…. I knew it was because of me. I looked down and my nose started bleeding. He was roadkill and I ruined my favorite button down.” I sat back and sort of settled in.

 

“You killed a man.”

 

“Yes, Idri. Well, more a boy, really, he was far from a man, both mentally and physically.” I smirked a sort of ‘I told you so’ look. 

 

“Wow.” 

 

“Wow, indeed Fen.” 

 

I went on to tell them how I tried moving other things with my mind. I tried to will the television remote to me. I tried to tip over my brother’s glass of milk. Succeeded with that one after he kicked me under the dinner table one night. I told them of how I would get up early to feed the animals and plant things and harvest them. They had a bit of a taste of my agricultural experiences with the farming of Fillory. 

 

I told them all the little stories I could think of about growing up in a small town in the middle of Indiana. 

 

“What about this?” Idri asked pointing at the cover of my journal. 

 

“Yeah, what is that?”

 

“Brakebills, it was where I was going to school before here.”

 

“You were a scholar?” Fen asked scooting a bit closer to me.

 

“Well, yeah. We studied magic.” 

 

“Can you fix what is wrong with Fillory?” Idri chimed in. 

 

“Well, we still have the crazy journey set up by the fairies.” I sighed wondering if I would be successful in completing this mission and if it would actually restore magic. 

 

“Yes, the seven keys.” Idri recalled. 

 

“And the ship.” I contributed. 

 

“And us.” Fen added looking around the room. 

 

“Yeah.” I sighed and stood up. 

 

“Are you ok Eliot?”

 

“Yeah Idri, I’m fine.” I said not making eye contact with anyone. “Look, I just need a minute. I’m going to go lay down for a bit.” I slowly walked out of the room half wondering if anyone would stop me and half wishing they wouldn’t. 

 

I walked back to my room and changed clothes into something more comfortable and laid down. I looked out the window at the open fields. 

 

“I’m not a very good king.” I sighed and felt tears well up in my eyes. I don’t know if I was talking or praying or just looking for some kind of sign to tell me I was doing the right thing. I heard a light knock on my door and didn’t say anything. The door slowly opened. 

 

“El?” 

 

I sat up in bed as quickly as I could. 

 

“Q? What are you doing…? How did you…??”

 

“ I don’t know. I was home. My dad passed and I….”

 

“I’m sorry Q.” 

 

“Me too.” 

 

I stood up and walked over to him and wrapped him in a hug.”

 

“El?”

 

“Yeah.” 

 

“I can’t breath.” 

 

“Oh. Sorry.” I smiled and slowly let him go. 

 

“Anyway, dad passed and I was cleaning his house and walked into a closet and next thing I knew I was walking down a hall in the castle.”

 

“I’m so glad you’re here.”

 

“Thanks. I’m not so sure.” 

 

“Why?” I saw him look around and before he could even say anything I’d figured it out. “Oh. Cause of the magic….” I looked around the room trying to search for the right thing to say. 

 

“El magic may not be gone.”

 

“What?”

 

“Julia. She made this spark….”

 

“Q…”

 

“No, El it was real. I saw it.” 

 

“hmmm, then maybe this journey will work.”

 

“Journey?”

 

“Uh, yeah, the fairies have sent us on this quest to find these keys. We have a ship and all and we spent the past few days packing and getting ready. We are going on a quest for seven keys and apparently whatever they unlock is supposed to fix magic.”

 

“So finding these keys will fix all this?”

 

“That’s what they said.”

“El, you got this. We can do this.” For the first time in a while Q was excited.

 

“Q, I don’t…” He cut me off mid sentence. 

 

“El, I have to go with you.”

 

“Q, do you really think that’s a good idea?”

 

“Look El, I am kind of the reason all this happened. At least let me help fix it.” 

 

“Are you sure about this Q?”

 

“El…”

 

“Look, we don’t know how long this is going to take, I can’t ask you to give up that much to help us find some keys that we don’t even know where exactly they are or how long it will take to find them or even….”

 

“El, just let me help. I get I messed things up in the past but I have to have been brought here for something. Maybe this is it. Maybe I’m meant to help find these things. It’s got to at least be worth a shot right?”

 

“Ok. I guess I can’t really argue with that logic.” 

 

Quentin smiled and walked out of the room. He still had things here from when he was last in Fillory so I assumed he was off to go pack that up and head to the boat later with the rest of us. 

 

I looked around the room and laid back down. I took a deep breath. I was just about asleep when I heard the low creak of the door. I chose to ignore it. 

 

I heard someone walking across the room and felt someone lay down next to me. They put their arm around me. 

 

“El?”

 

“What?”

 

“Talk to me.” 

 

“I’m not in the mood to talk Idri.” 

 

“Well you can’t stay silent forever.”

 

“I know.” 

 

“How about another one of your stories?”

 

“You really want to hear a story now?”

 

“I want to know more about you.”

 

“I’m not that interesting, I promise.”

 

“El. I am fascinated by you. I want to know what makes you tick. What’s your secrets? Your favorite things?”

 

“You want to know a secret? Ok. I already told you how I killed a man how about I tell you how messed up my past is?” I snapped, partially hoping he would let the topic go.

 

“We all have our issues.” 

 

“Here’s a fun tidbit. I wasn’t as surprised as you’d think being kicked out of Fillory. I’m more surprised that after all that, you and Fen stuck around. I’m honestly surprised the two of you or anyone is still here and really I’m surprised as hell that you all want to even consider getting on this damned ship with me for God knows how long for some keys that may or may not fix what’s wrong with this place!”

 

“Why would I leave?”

 

“Cause they all do!”

 

“Fine. Tell me that story.”

 

“Ok. My parents divorced, dad blamed farming, mom blamed dad’s cheating. I hid in my room and watched ‘Dirty Dancing” night after night in an effort to escape. I memorized every damned line of that movie cause it allowed me to be in another world, even if only for a few hours, I didn’t have to think about all the times I’d failed. “

 

He just sat there and looked at me. I was getting more and more frustrated.

 

“Then I went to school. I did what I was supposed to and still my grades weren’t that great. I studied and failed. I just gave up I made friends and watched them move away or just stop being friends with me. I graduated high school and went back home after graduation and debating hanging myself in our barn because I just knew I couldn’t be a farmer for the rest of my life.”

 

I paced back and forth a few times in silence. 

 

“I tied the rope to the rafters and set a stool out. I climbed into the hay loft and crawled over to the rope. I slipped it around my neck and jumped. The damned rope snapped in half. I went up to my room pissed off that I failed once again. I grabbed a knife and started cutting my arm. It felt good.” 

 

“Ok….. El…. I don’t…”

 

“No! You wanted this story and you get it!”

 

I stood there and looked him in the eye. 

 

“That didn’t even work. I was just left with a few scars. You can barely see them now but they’re there. I started smoking. I started drinking and for a while that numbed the pain. Then that stopped working. I needed more and more to make myself feel better. After a while it all just became routine. It’s what I did. I’ve tried every drug I can think of at least three times. 

 

I woke up one morning after another failed attempt at ending it all. I walked outside to our small shed with every intention of grabbing a sharp knife and running myself through with it. I opened the door and walked in only to find myself walking down some long hall. 

 

I walked into a room and was given a test and told I was ‘magic’. I took classes and actually excelled at this place. For once in my life I was good at something. They told my family I was at some prestigious college. I know my family didn’t believe it and quite frankly I didn’t care. I vowed I was never going back there. 

 

I made friends at Brakebills and even them I watched leave or get sent home. A few, even left because they just wanted to. I came here and was made king, was told I could never leave. Come to find out my friends could come and go as they pleased. Do you have any idea how much it hurt when all of them left and I stayed here? Yeah, they left to get help to kill the beast or Martin or whatever but I also knew time worked different here and there was a chance I’d never see them again. 

 

Long story short, they come and they go. Alice goes battling the beast, I can’t do anything about that, I didn’t know her that well admittedly. Then Q decides to leave. There’s another friend gone. Fast forward a bit, Margo declares war and makes a deal with the fairies which starts this whole hot mess. Margo has pretty much been pissed at me since I didn’t go to Ibiza with her. Just seems more and more distant. At one point she was the closest friend I had and now, I’m not so sure.”

 

I looked away. To be honest, the thought of losing Margo was probably the most devastating thing I could think of. I took a deep breath. 

 

“Also, the last boyfriend I had, I snapped his neck like a twig when he tried to kill our dean because he was possessed by the beast. When I found out I had to marry Fen because of the whole high king thing a small part of me was relieved. At least if she had to marry me and stay with me because of this king thing then as long as I was king she couldn’t leave. My thought has always been leave them before they can leave me, cause they always leave in the end. They’ll spend years convincing you that they’re not like the rest and just when you start to believe them shit hits the fan you’re on your own. Part of me didn’t argue with the arranged marriage just because she was supposed to care for me and stay with me. It was my fail safe and I could finally be something of value. 

 

Maybe as High King I could actually do something worth while. When I found my damned farming background could help Fillory I was shocked. Yes, that has always been a painful part of my past but at least it helped with something. That point actually made me feel like maybe I could be king cause I actually fixed something. They made me king, I was finally worth something and wanted and needed. 

 

Fast forward, I get kicked out of Fillory. Go figure. Just after I start to think this could be my home I am suddenly not wanted here anymore. Yet another thing that doesn’t shock me. I was so pissed and determined to find my way back. This was the only place I had ever really felt home besides Brakebills. 

 

I found my way back, fought tooth and nail and here I am. When Fen came in and said she was my wife, I was honestly surprised that she still wanted me after all this shit. And theoretically since I got booted out and fought my way back I’m surprised they still see me as their king.”

 

“That’s how it works. Our king has always been a child of Earth and you have proven you are our king.” 

 

I turned around to see Fen in the doorway. 

 

“Come on in.” I muttered motioning towards the bed where Idri had gotten settled. 

 

“So to wrap up this little story, now the fairies have us on this quest to find some set of keys in hopes that it will fix everything that got messed up. God only knows if we will actually find these things or if they’ll actually fix magic or even if they actually exist.” 

 

“The keys are real. The seven keys. They’re in different parts of the land.” 

 

“Seriously?”

 

“Yes, I always thought it was just legend but all legends are based on some kind of fact. The keys are real and I am sure you can find them.” 

 

“You put an awful lot of faith in me.” 

 

“Why shouldn’t I?”

 

“Did you not just hear the last little story?”

 

“Yes and that’s why I put faith in you. You told us earlier when you learned about your magic that it comes from a source of pain and if that is true, you have faced so much pain that you should have a strong source to draw from.” 

 

“Thanks, I think….”

 

“I do believe it was intended as a compliment. Basically saying…”

 

“I know what she was saying. That I’ve had enough pain in my life to be a great magician. Well, she’s not wrong. That’s why I did so well at Brakebills, my past and all my pain gave me a source to draw from.”

 

I looked away and slowly walked to the other side of the room. 

 

“Eliot with how much you love Fillory I am sure you can do this.” 

 

“Thanks Fen.” I ran my hand through my hair. 

 

“We should finish getting ready.” Idri stood up and walked out of the room. I waited to see if I would hear Fen follow him. 

 

“Eliot?”

 

“What?”

 

“I do care about you and so does Idri”

 

“Thanks Fen.” 

 

“Look, I know it’s not easy to be put into this arranged marriage but even if it wasn’t fully our choice I still care about you and want you to be happy.” 

 

“Look, I’ll admit at first this was hard for me with it not being my choice and not exactly being into… um….”

 

“I understand El. But even if you’re not attracted to me in that way I still care about you.”

 

She walked over and hugged me. 

 

“Thanks Fen, that means a lot.”

 

I didn’t know what to do. 

 

“I believe in you and I just know you’ll find the keys.” 

 

I smiled at her half heartedly, nothing to do with her or what she said but more to do with the bit of doubt I had in my ability to find the keys and fix all this. 

 

“Ok, that’s enough story time for now. I’m actually going to try and get some rest now.” 

 

Fen stood up and hugged me. She walked out of the room closing the door behind her. 

I laid down and pulled a blanket over me and closed my eyes. I felt a few tears roll down my cheek, probably just stress and residual frustration and sadness. I took a slow deep breath and drifted off to sleep. 

 

I woke up several hours later. It was still dark out. I laid there half hoping something would snap me out of this feeling and half hoping they’d kind of forget me. 

 

I looked out the window and saw the sun just starting to rise. I got up and walked down the hall. Everyone else was still asleep. I sat down at the table and saw the drawings and maps and various other things scattered about. There were even scraps of fabric and crumbs of food. 

 

I picked up one small drawing. 

 

“The Muntjac” I read scrawled at the bottom. “Well, at least I don’t have to name it.” I rolled my eyes and picked up another drawing. This one was a map of Fillory. I looked it over making little mental notes of all the places I’d been. “For God’s sake, I haven’t even seen all of this place.” I sighed and put it down. 

 

I shuffled through a few more drawings and small maps before I found a random button. “What the hell?” I picked it up. “God, were they making clothes out here? And maps? It was a regular craft session.” I tossed the button back on the table and stood up. I walked over and gazed out the window. “How in the hell am I going to be any kind of a captain?”

 

“The same way you figured out how to be a king.”

 

I spun around. 

 

“Quentin, shit.” 

 

“Hey El.” 

 

“I’m not that great of a king. I mean just look around.”

“You are a good king. Yeah shit got messed up but it wasn’t all your fault and you’re trying to fix it.”

 

“Yeah by getting sent on this crazy ass quest that I don’t even know if I can do.”

 

“You’re not doing it by yourself. You have us to help you.”

 

“Yeah and I’m supposed to lead you.”

 

“Look. It will be fine. We’ve figured it all out before. Like The Beast, we won that one.”

 

“If you call one person dying because of it, winning.” I snapped and went back to looking out the window. 

 

I heard Q walk off. I just stood there trying to think of what I was going to do. 

 

I sat on the window ledge and just stared out over the fields. I heard someone walking over but didn’t bother to see who it was. 

 

“If you’re going to be a captain you might as well look like one.”

 

“I do. Can’t you see? I’m peering off into nothingness and pretending I see something.”

 

“That’s not what I meant.”

 

“Well, forgive me Margo If I don’t feel like much of a captain.” I rolled my eyes knowing full well she wouldn’t stop till she got out whatever she was here for.

 

“Well, maybe if you look like one it will help.”

 

“Doubtful.”

 

“Look, I’m trying to kind of apologize here. Do you want the gift or not?”

 

“Fine.” I stood up and turned to face her with my eyes closed. 

 

“Hold out your arms.” 

 

I put my arms out in a pose like I was being crucified. 

 

“Ok, just put your arms down.” 

 

I put my arms back at my side. I felt her grab one wrist and slide something on. Then she did the other. It must have been some shirt or something. 

“Well, open your eyes.” 

 

I slowly opened them to see Margo standing there looking slightly proud of herself. 

 

“Thanks Margo.” I looked away. 

 

“Look, El, I know this doesn’t fix things but we are going on this quest with you and I just want you to know, I’m trying.”

 

“I’m trying too Margo! I’m trying to pretend I’m this great leader that everyone expects me to be. I’m trying to be this fucking king everyone thinks I am. I’m trying to not completely fuck this up like everything else in my life!”

 

“El…”

 

“Although on the plus side I don’t have alcohol or drugs or maybe that’s not the plus side. Nothing to calm me down nothing to take the edge off. Just the countless memories of all the things I’ve managed to fuck up over the years.”

 

“You’re the fucking king of this place…..”

 

“Yeah and I got kicked out!”

 

“And fought your way back. Even you said this is your home now.”

 

“Yeah, and we all know what happens when I start feeling like I belong somewhere.” I looked her in the eyes waiting to hear what her comeback for that would be. She stayed quiet. “Yeah, we all know what happens then. I don’t know why this place made me a king…Oh wait yes I do. For some God’s amusement. It was all a joke. I’m not some great leader I’m the source of entertainment.”

 

“Yeah and after Quentin killed the damned Gods you stepped up and found your way back here and proved you’re their king. So fucking suck it up.” She walked off like she always does. When she’s done she just walks off. 

 

I felt the tears welling up and turned to face outside. I masked wiping the tears away by wiping my eyes as though I was tired. 

 

“El?”

 

“What?”

 

“Can we talk?”

 

“We’re talking now, what do you want?”

 

“I just wanted to….”

 

“What?!” I turned around facing Q. I already knew it was him. His voice gives him away. 

 

“Look. This whole quest thing….”

 

“Q don’t start that ‘it’ll all be ok’ shit. It’s going to be fucking hell. We have to essentially travel out into God knows what going God only knows where to find some random ass collection of keys that no one knows where they are and quite frankly no one even knows if they’re real.”

 

“They’re real, they have to be or they wouldn’t send us to find them.”

 

I rolled my eyes and walked away. I walked down to my room and closed the door behind me. 

 

I sat down on my bed. 

 

“Why the hell would they pick me?”

 

“They didn’t pick you. You found the questing beast and asked for the quest.”

 

“ I didn’t ask to be sent out to God knows where looking for some collection of keys.” 

 

“You asked for magic back. This is how you get it. They can’t just wiggle their nose and make it all ok again. That’s what those creatures do. They give you a resolution to your problem but you have to want the resolution bad enough to work for it. If you truly want magic back and you truly want this to be your home then you will find what you are after.”

 

“God you sound just like them.”

 

“If it’s true what all the others say and you love this place as much as you say then you will be the one who saves it.”

 

“That’s just not how it works with me Fen.”

 

“Maybe not in the past but you haven’t been on a quest in Fillory.”

 

“Look. Maybe you guys should find another captain. I just know I’m going to fuck it up.”

 

“It’s your quest Eliot no one else can take it over.”

 

“Ok fortune cookie.” 

I looked over and just saw her looking confused. 

 

“Never mind.” I sighed.

 

“Look, you want magic back this is what you have to do. It’s up to you.” She stood up and walked out of the room. 

 

I sat there for a while longer. I looked around and noticed all of the bags I packed were gone. I guess they took them down to the boat. I saw some clothes sitting on a chair across the room. I got up to look at them. 

 

“What the….”

 

“The royal dressers made you clothes for your journey.” 

 

“Shit.” I jumped back seeing Benedict, the map maker in the doorway.

 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. The jacket looks good on you by the way.” 

 

“Thanks.” I went back to looking around. 

 

“I made some maps of the areas you’ll be traveling. At least what I know of them.”

 

“You mean we haven’t even seen all the places we will be going?”

 

“Not all of them, no.” He looked away almost ashamed. 

 

I walked over and took the maps from him. “Thanks.” 

 

He turned to walk out of the room. 

 

“Hey, um Benedict is it?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Look, we are going to need maps of these places we go to and seeing that you make the maps and all…”

 

“What?”

 

“Well since you draw all the maps then you should come so we can get maps of this stuff.”

 

“Really? You want me to go?”

 

“Believe me, I was shocked when they wanted me to go on this quest too but at least if nothing else, we can get some accurate maps of all these places we have to go to.”

 

“I’d be honored.” I saw his face light up like a kid on Christmas morning. 

 

“Great.” I half smiled back at him. At least I could make someone happy in all of this. 

 

“I’ll go gather my things.”

 

He almost ran out of the room in excitement and I set the maps on my desk. 

 

I walked around the room before settling on getting dressed. I put on the new clothes. 

 

“Well at least I look like a captain.” I sighed as I looked in the mirror. 

 

I walked down the hall and saw everyone gathered in the throne room. 

 

“Nice of you to join us El.” Margo snapped from across the room. 

 

“Thanks.” I snapped right back. 

 

“Good everyone’s here.” Fen chimed in entering the room. 

 

“Yeah all here.” I sighed. 

 

“Are we all ready?”

 

“I think so.” 

 

I heard a thud from down the hall. 

 

“What the…?”

 

“I’m here sire.” 

 

“Oh, yeah, Benedict is coming with to make maps of all these places.”

 

“Oh.” 

 

“Yep.”

 

“Ok, so are we ready now?”

 

“Ready as I’m going to get.” 

 

I looked around and saw everyone with their little bags. They were all looking at me.

 

“Ok, let’s go.” I turned around and started walking towards the door. I turned around to make sure everyone was following me. 

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing. Let’s go.” I turned around and continued walking. 

 

We all walked like some old time gang down to the pier. The boat had been worked on since I last saw it. It now looked brand new. It was unbelievable. It had it’s sails up and looked like something out of one of Quentin’s fantasies. I looked back to see Q’s face lit up like a kid just given a lollipop the size of his head. Everyone else started slowly making their way onto the ship. I stayed behind waiting on Q. 

 

“Wow.” 

 

“It’s crazy. Good thing you like it we may be on it a while.” I tried to joke. 

 

“It’s amazing. “

 

“Just like one of your books?”

 

“Yeah, actually.” He smiled and walked onto the ship.

 

I let out a small laugh and walked on myself.

 

“Well, here we are captain.” A small man walked up to me and handed me a compass and a telescope. 

 

“Thank you.”

 

“I’m Bingles. I’ll be assisting on this voyage.” He bowed slightly. 

 

“Great. Thanks.” I walked over to the front of the ship and looked out over the water.

 

“Sir?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Are you ready to set sail?”

 

“Um… yeah… I guess.” I sighed hoping we were ready for all this.

 

“Great. My crew will get us going.” 

“Perfect.”

 

I stood there looking out over the water, we slowly started moving and heading towards the open sea.

 

“Well, here we go kids.” I turned around to see the whole group loosely gathered behind me. “You guys ready for this?”

 

“As ready as you can be for a journey we know very little about.” Margo snapped from the back of the crowd. 

 

“Look. I don’t know much about it either except we have to go on some crazy journey and find seven keys. It’s like the most wicked version of an Easter egg hunt.” 

 

“Where are we supposed to start?”

 

“Good question Q.” 

 

“Well, there are some islands on the outskirts of what we know of Fillory, not many have traveled there, we could start with that.”

 

“Well, seeing as you’re the one sailing and you seem to know a bit more than we do, I vote we listen to Bingle.”

 

“It’s your journey.” Margo snapped and rolled her eye.

 

“Look Margo, you can be mad at me this whole journey or we can get over whatever the hell is going on right here, right now. I get it, you’re mad at me. Let’s face it without each and every one of us this journey may not be possible. I know without all of you I’d just massively fuck this whole quest thing up. So be mad at me all you want but fact of the matter is, I need all of you. So be pissed at me if you want but you chose to come so you could at least hate me a little less and move on.”

 

“You always have to make this about you!”

 

“No! You don’t get to play the victim again. I get you’re mad about the whole fairy thing and losing your eye and all but move on! This shit isn’t just about me it’s about us all. I found the damned questing thing and asked for magic back, for all of us! He gave me this journey to get these damned keys and whatever they unlock gets us our magic back. Newsflash, this whole world is here because of magic! Without magic this place is gone. We have all come to make this place home and I’m damned sure not going to lose it cause you’re pissed at me. I’m doing this for all of us!! I need your help cause I can’t fucking do this alone! I need all of you! I’ve fucked up enough and I can’t mess this up!” 

 

At this point I was on the verge of tears from anger and frustration. 

“I’ve messed up enough in my life and I can’t fuck this up to. More is depending on this than just me.” 

 

“Fine.” 

 

“No, not fine. Don’t you get it? This is bigger than any of us. Magic is gone! Not hiding…Gone!. This damned quest finding these stupid keys is going to fix all of it. We will be the ones who brought all of magic back. This isn’t about me or you or any of us. It’s about saving everything that we believe in. I can’t fuck this up. Now, are you with us or not?”

 

She looked down, I think for the first time it actually sunk in. “Yes.” She muttered.

 

“Good. Now we have a world and all of magic to save.” I turned away and went back to looking out towards the open water. 

 

After several hours I could see some islands in the distance. 

 

“A few more hours and we’ll be close to landfall.” I heard Bingle call out from behind the wheel.

 

I walked over to where Fen, Idri and a few others were gathered. 

 

“Eliot.”

 

“Hey Fen.” 

 

“So I’m curious, you keep talking about your school and past and how you didn’t have a home till Fillory and how you don’t want to mess things up. What happened?”

 

“It’s a long story.” I sighed then looking out over the water I realized time was all we had at the moment. “But I suppose we have some time.” I took a long, slow deep breath and sat on one of the nearby crates. 

 

“Ok. So I was born in a small town on Earth in a place called Indiana. I never fit in there. Much like the stories I’d told you before. I was constantly criticized and made fun of for the things I did and the way I dressed. I was made to feel like there was nothing I could do right. Even when I did my best there was always someone to tear me down and tell me everything wrong with what I did.” I paused for a moment looking around. 

 

“I went to Brakebills and they told me I was magic, like actual magic, and I could be very powerful. I had a hard time believing that seeing as how my whole life was all about how I wasn’t that great and failed at so much. It’d gotten to a point where I just stopped trying at most things cause I figured I’d just fail anyway. I did all I could to pass my classes cause they told me when I started, if I failed I’d be sent home and I’d do anything to not have that happen.” 

 

“I was the family disappointment and the failure in class and in life. I didn’t want to ever go back to that. I was determined to do whatever I could to stay at Brakebills. I learned all I could. Somehow so much of it came so easy to me I figured there must be something wrong. Nothing came easy to me. I just kept figuring I was going to fail somehow. I would study at night when everyone else went to sleep and practice when everyone else had class. The dean was even impressed with what I could do which was surprising for me since it was the first time I really got any kind of attention for being good at something. Usually it was all about how I messed something up and for once it was how well I was doing.” 

 

I paused for a moment.

 

I took another deep breath.

 

“Fast forward and I came here. For whatever reason they made me king. You know most of that story so I’ll skip that part. Of course there’s Fen getting kidnapped by fairies, which she agreed to some stuff in an effort to save me, so chalk that up to my fault ultimately as well. Then everyone getting turned into rats. I did all I could to try and get people changed back. It works with one person, then I abruptly get kicked out of Fillory. So, there’s me failing again. I got mad and was determined to find my way back. This was the place where people looked up to me and saw me as a success. Yeah, Brakebills was great but there was still something missing. I still drank, I still did drugs. Here I can’t do that. There’s something different here, it’s bigger than me. It sucked at first but ultimately it was what I needed. This had become my home. I finally got back and, well, you all know what happened from there. Now we’re on this quest cause I wanted magic back. Granted, this will help more than just me but I was the one who found the questing animal and this was my wish. So, if this will actually bring magic back and keep this place alive and make everything ok again, I can’t fail. I have to succeed at this to save the people and the place, the home, I love.” 

 

“I had no idea El.” 

 

“It’s ok Fen.”

 

“Look, I know with how you feel about this and how determined you are that you will not fail. You are a good king and you want to succeed so badly that you will.” 

 

“I’m glad you feel that way. I’m not so sure.” 

 

“You are a great king Eliot.” Idri chimed in. 

 

Fen walked over and hugged me and I hugged her back. I must admit it felt nice to have them actually care about me. I laid my head on her shoulder. I felt a stray tear roll down my cheek. 

 

“It’s going to be ok Eliot.” She whispered as she ran her hand through my hair. 

 

I didn’t say anything, just stood there hugging her. She pulled away slightly and I let her go. She reached her hands up to my face and pulled me down and kissed me. I was surprised as she had never done that before but I didn’t mind. I actually kind of liked it. Maybe it was the mere fact that I knew she would care for me no matter what or maybe it was the fact that I was settling in to this whole High King of Fillory thing. 

 

She smiled at me and wiped the tear from my face. She stepped back and Idri hugged me.

 

“Ok, ok. Enough of the hugging we have a kingdom to save. How are we ever going to find these keys?” 

 

“I know bits and pieces of a legend I was told as a child but I’m not sure how much it will help.” 

 

“Well, right now we have nothing so let’s start with that.” 

 

She recited the beginning and it sounded familiar. The lands she was talking about I’d heard the names before. 

 

“Wait. Benedict, bring me those maps.” 

 

I heard him scurry over. “Here they are.” 

 

“Thanks.” I unrolled one, the one that mapped out the islands we were coming up on. “There! Those are the mountains from that story. We’ll start there.” 

 

I felt better knowing we had a plan or at least the start of a plan. 

 

“Twenty minutes till landfall your highness.” 

 

“Good. We should all go get ready. Who knows who or what is on this island and I’d assume we should make a good impression.” I walked off to go change into the clothes set out for me in Fillory. 

 

I walked back up dressed in the captain outfit. Fen came up in a dress, Idri in one of his Fillory/Loria crossover looks and the rest in their typical sorts of looks. Quentin looked like he was on some epic quest, which admittedly he was. Margo had on her dress that just screamed High Queen. 

We all gathered and I told them of the plan to start our search in the mountains. 

 

“We will meet with the people here, assuming there are any and then head there. Hopefully what we are looking for will be there somewhere.”

 

“That’s a lot of mountains El, how do you propose we find a small key in all that?”

 

“I don’t know Q. Maybe the same way we found Fillory. Maybe we’ll get lucky and it will be in the first place we look, maybe someone will trip on it….”

 

“Or maybe some magical goat will walk up with the key in it’s mouth and drop it at your feet, six more will come up and do the same, seven keys, journey over and we can go home.” Margo interrupted. 

 

“Well, while that would be great, I’m like ninety-nine percent sure this journey isn’t going to work that way. Pretty sure this is Easter egg hunt meets scavenger hunt meets clue meets what the hell.”

 

“Fine, have it your way.” She scoffed and stood there. 

 

“Ok so we make landfall, play nice with the townspeople and find us a key.” 

 

“I almost feel like we should do one of those all hands in and say some team unifying thing.” 

 

“Seriously Q, can this whole journey not be full of your bonding fanboy crap?”

 

“God, sorry Margo.” He rolled his eyes and looked away. 

 

“You know what? Yeah, come on guys. For Fillory on three….one…two…three…”

 

As all but Margo chanted “For Fillory!” Margo less enthused, “yeah, fine.” 

 

We slowly made landfall and I watched to see if I could see any people or anything on the island. 

 

We slowly got off the ship once Bingle gave us the ok. 

 

“So far, I see nothing so let’s head to your mountains, get the key, if It’s even there and get out of here.”

 

“It’s not that easy Margo.” 

 

“Who’s there?!” A voice called from the distance. 

 

“I am High King of Fillory.” I called back. 

“High king you say? If that’s true you must be a child of Earth. Been a long time since I’ve seen one of those anywhere near here.” 

 

“We’re on a quest, we were sent to find these seven keys…”

 

“Another? How many of you are there?”

 

“Well, there’s um, three children of Earth and several Fillorians.”

 

“Come, children of Earth. Our kings and queens are always welcome here.”

 

“Look, we really just need to find these keys so we can get home.” Margo put in her two cents. 

 

“If it is the keys you are after I can help but first I meet the children of Earth, then I send you to what you seek.” 

 

“Fine, but you have to come out here in the open so we can see you.” I called out.

 

“As you wish.” 

 

A small woman walked out of the woods. 

 

“Your majesty.” She bowed.

 

“Hi. So, who are you?”

 

“I am the keeper of this island. I watch over the forest and the animals. You can call me Drina.”

 

“Thanks Drina.” 

 

“Come with me, we will go to my house. I’m sure you are hungry after your journey, we will eat then talk about this quest you are on.”

 

I hadn’t thought about it much but I was rather hungry. We all followed Drina back to her house which was a rather nice size. She had food prepared and set it out on a huge table outside. We all gathered around and ate. 

 

“I have lived on this island my whole life. I know every legend of this island. I do not know what would lead you here on your quest but seeing as you are the first children of Earth I have seen since I was an infant, it must be important.”

 

“We were sent on a quest to find these seven keys. We were told they would save magic.” I looked around and saw everyone else still eating. 

 

“You seek to save magic?”

 

“Yes, see we fought the two Gods, Ember and Umber and they got killed, after that all of magic was sort of shut off. I went out and found a questing beast and asked to have magic restored. That’s what sent me on this quest. Fen had heard legends about these keys and one of them mentions this island, well, the mountains actually.”

 

“Yes, those mountains are said to have a special power to them. Not many journey that far but those who do, rarely make it back.”

 

“Oh.” I looked away. 

 

“But none of the others were children of Earth either. Also, none were royalty.” 

 

“So does that mean something?”

 

“It means you may have a chance. Here, take this, it will help on your quest.” She reached over and handed me a canteen of water. “This will help, there should be more than enough for all of you.”

 

“Thanks.” 

 

“You should start on the lower mountain. Our legends state the journey is never easy but the one that is starts on the low peak. The key to happiness is finding the way to every peak.”

 

“What exactly does that mean? Do we have to go to every peak on the mountains to find the key?”

 

“There is a bridge. It leads from the lowest peak to the highest, passing over the others. You will pass every peak but it will not be an easy journey.”

 

“Well, we best be going then. We have lots ahead of us. Thank you for your help.”

 

We finished our meal and walked about an hour before reaching the base of the smaller mountain. 

 

“Ok, here’s hoping there’s a key at the end of all this.” 

 

We slowly started hiking up the mountain. Luckily it was like a difficult hike and not so much actual climbing. Once we reached the peak we saw the bridge Drina had talked about. 

 

It was much like the rainbow bridge in Fillory only not as colorful. It was just stark gray and white. It was very weathered from likely years of being here. 

“I’ll go first.” I stated while taking the first few steps on the bridge. So far it seemed sturdy. A lot more rugged than it looked. 

 

I walked slowly as to not disturb things too much. I looked back to see the others slowly making their way across behind me. We walked for a long time before feeling the effects of the altitude. It wasn’t like on Earth where you get short of breath and dizzy it was more just an uneasy feeling of being very high up.

 

We reached the peak of the second mountain and stopped to rest for a bit. 

 

“Eliot?”

 

“Yeah Q?”

 

“Do you really think there’s a key up here?”

 

“Well I guess we’re about to find out aren’t we.”

 

“What happens if there’s not?”

 

“Then we keep looking. I’ve messed up enough in my life to know I can’t fail at this.”

 

“Do you really think finding all these keys will save magic?”

 

“It has to. That was the quest I was given.”

 

All the time of having this conversation I was looking around to see if I could find where the key could possibly be hidden. 

 

After a few minutes I got up and started wandering. There wasn’t much up here, no trees it could be hidden in or under. Not a whole lot of rocks to hide anything either. I looked around for anything that would even give me a hint as to where a key could possibly be. 

 

“Fen?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“That story you told, about the key, what came after the mountain part?”

 

“It was about seeing the sun rise over the ocean.”

 

“That makes no sense there’s no water anywhere near here. I mean it’s an island so we’re surrounded by water but you can barely see it from way up here through all the forest below.”

 

“Eliot, what about that?”

 

“What Q?”

 

“Over there, I can see the water’s edge.” 

 

“Ok, so now we have to wait for the sun to come up? I’m not about to spend the night up here.” 

 

“Wait! We may not have to.”

 

Quentin ran over and started digging at the dirt. 

 

“Damn. Nothing.” 

 

“What?”

 

“I thought I saw something.”

 

I took another look around and noticed some small rocks in a sort of pattern. I slowly walked over and noticed it was a small triangle. I moved a few of the stones and started digging. After a few minutes I uncovered a small box. I pulled it out.

 

“Guys, I think I found it!”

 

The rest of the group quickly gathered around. I slowly opened the box. 

 

“Empty?! Seriously?!”

 

“What the hell?”

 

“I guess someone found it before we could.” I set the box down, defeated. 

 

“Now what?”

 

“Well, I guess we could take the box down to the lady who watches over all this and see if she knows anything.”

 

“Ok, so back down we go.”

 

We carefully made our way back to the bridge then down to the smaller peak then hiked down to it’s base. 

 

We walked for several hours before we made it back to Drina’s hut. 

 

“You return from your journey. Did you find what you were after?”

“Well, not really. We found the box but the key was already gone.” I set the box down on the table. 

 

“It is the key from the mountain?”

 

“No, it’s the box from the key from the mountain. There’s no key in it. That’s the problem.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Yes” I opened the box. “See? Empty.” I slammed it shut. I felt the all too familiar feeling of failure once again. 

 

“It is this key that you want more than anything, yes?”

 

“Yes, this key would be the first one on our journey and it would mean we had a chance at saving magic.” 

 

“Here.” She picked up the box and slid the bottom off. “Here is your key. We hide them to ensure those with the noble hearts get them and not the greedy treasure seekers.” 

 

I don’t know why I didn’t think of that. It never even crossed my mind to try and tear the box apart. 

 

“Thank you.” I couldn’t believe it. We had actually succeeded at finding the first key. The moment was short lived knowing there were six others that we still needed. 

 

“Great, one down six to go, how do we find the others? Got any more fairy tales Fen?” Margo snapped from the back of the crowd. 

 

“No, that was the only one I was told about the keys.”

 

“She has a point. How do we find the others?”

 

“Each key comes with a direction. Something to lead you to the next part of your quest. They are all in order. One leads you to the next one. Here.” 

 

She handed me the small plank of wood from the bottom of the box. There was a short encryption on the bottom.

 

“To calm the fires he sends rain, love is the thing that cures all pain. If it is your heart’s desire you seek head to the place for your passion to keep.”

 

“What the hell?”

 

“It’s a clue. Easter egg hunt meets scavenger hunt remember?”

 

“Yeah, I remember but how the hell are we going to decode all these ‘hints’?”

 

“I’m sure there’s a way Margo, we just have to figure it out. We’ll head back to the ship, take a look at the maps and try to sort this out. Drina, thank you for all your help.” 

 

“Ok, so back to the ship.” 

 

We got back to the ship and pulled out the maps to where we were. I looked at them and didn’t see anything that fit the description of the place on the box. 

 

“So what did you find?”

 

“Nothing, well nothing yet…”

 

“Shit.”

 

“Look Margo, I know you’re not exactly happy with me right now but we have to figure this out. We are each a part of this quest for a reason. We all have to be here to figure it out.”

 

“El, I think I have it!!” Quentin came bursting through the doors. Margo, without saying anything else quietly walked out. 

 

“What Q?”

 

“This whole riddle thing, so the whole curing fires with rain thing and the love part could be talking about the other islands. Bingle said something about heart’s tears or something like that.”

 

Benedict got all excited and quickly grabbed another map. 

 

“Here your majesty….” He unrolled them map and pointed to a small gathering of islands. “The heart’s tears and in the center is the biggest island, there’s a cave there the locals refer to as the ‘heart’s desire’.”

 

“That’s got to be it. Only looks like a day or two away.” 

 

We set course for the small gathering of islands and I just hoped I was right. To be honest I really didn’t want to face the others if I was wrong. 

 

After a few days we made it to the island. 

 

It looked very unassuming and had very little on it. There was a small gathering of trees, the large cave opening and a few small huts gathered about. A man walked out of one of the huts. 

 

He stood there for a moment before making his way over to us. 

 

“Who are you and what brings you here?”

 

“We’re on a quest.” 

 

“Surely you are not royals of Fillory, they have not come here in decades.”

 

“We are, I am High King, we were sent on a quest to restore magic.” 

 

“Surely this is some quest. To bring you here. I am Elrin, I oversee this island.” 

 

“We were sent on this quest for these seven keys. We have already found one and it had a hint that led us here.” 

 

“You’re after the keys?”

 

“Yes. But how did you know about…?”

 

“The keys are legend here, many of us know of the keys but no one has ventured to find them.”

 

“Well, we are and we think one may be here.” I handed him the small piece of wood from the last key’s box. 

 

“This does sound like it could be here. You have my permission to look if you so wish. Though I warn you, be careful of the cave, many who have entered do not return.” 

 

He turned and walked away. 

 

“Well that’s not ominous at all.” Margo quipped. 

 

“Yeah, freaky if you ask me.” Q chimed in. 

 

“Well, that may be where the key is, so we’ll have to at least look.”

 

“Well, I’ve already lost an eye to this fight so I’m calling not it.” 

 

“Fine, Margo. I’ll go look.” I turned and headed towards the cave. 

 

“I’m coming too.” Quentin called after me. 

“Fine, me and Q. The rest of you can look out here and see if you find anything.”

 

We headed towards the cave and noticed it getting darker and darker. 

 

I look over and see Q digging through his bag. 

 

“Here.” He holds up a small flashlight. 

 

“Just prepared for anything aren’t you?”

 

“I guess.” He laughs. 

 

We walk slowly into the cave and as Q shines the light in, I notice it’s not a very deep cave. 

 

“I don’t know why they say people don’t come out of this, it doesn’t look very deep.”

 

I walk over and notice some drawings on the wall. 

 

“What the? These make no sense at all. What do you think Q?” I turn around to see Q is no longer behind me. “Q….Quentin!” I stand up and as I turn around I fall into a hole.

 

“Hey El.”

 

“Q? What the hell?”

 

“I don’t know. I was looking at the pictures and I just fell into this hole.” 

 

I grabbed the light from him and looked around. 

 

“There! Looks like we can get out over there.” We slowly started crawling towards the small patch of light when the ground below us gave way and we fell yet again. 

 

“Ok, I think I get the getting trapped in here thing now.” 

 

“Maybe that key is down here somewhere.”

 

“Q, we have to get out of here.” 

 

“Yeah but we could at least look while we’re here.” 

 

“You look for the key, I’ll try to find a way out.” 

 

We each spent a few minutes looking over our surroundings. 

 

“El, over here!”

 

I hurried over to Q who had found some more drawings. 

 

“Look, it’s like instructions or something.” 

 

“That’s great Q but how does it help us?”

 

“This last one is a key.”

 

“Oh. So what does it say we do?”

 

“I don’t know, it just looks like a guy setting fire to a rock.” 

 

I held up the light to try to see better when the ground started shaking. 

 

“Shit.”

 

“Earthquake?”

 

“I don’t know.”

 

The ground gave way and we fell yet again but instead of landing in dirt we landed in a small pool of water. 

 

“What the hell?”

 

“El! Look over there!”

 

I turned around and saw a small box on a rock.

 

“That’s it!”

 

We swam over to it and grabbed the box. 

 

“Well, open it. Is there a key?”

 

“Yeah but…”

 

“But what Q? Is it our key or not?”

 

“Yeah…. But…” He held up what looked like half a key. “It’s broken.”

 

“Broken? It can’t be!!” 

 

“I mean I could have fixed it if I still had magic but I don’t…..”

“None of us do! That’s the point of all this! Now this key is broken and who knows if it will even do what it’s supposed to…” 

 

I looked over and he held both parts of the key in his hands. 

 

“You can’t fix it Q.”

 

“Maybe I can.”

 

“How?”

 

“This note.” He held up a small scrap of paper. “It says, ‘where there is no way a way was made this bit of sand will bring it back but long enough for just one act.’”

 

“So….”

 

“So, I put the sand in my hands, and hold the key….. concentrate….. There! It worked!”

 

He held up the key in one piece. 

 

“Holy shit you did it Q!!” 

 

I swam over and hugged him. He put the key back in the box and put the box in his bag. 

 

“Ok great we got the key now how do we get out of here?”

 

The ground started shaking again.

 

“Not again.” 

 

Rocks started dropping into the water and the cave walls started cracking. Pieces of the cave started falling into the water. Next thing I knew we were falling again. When I opened my eyes we were washing up on the shore of the island.

 

“What the….?”

 

“Eliot?”

 

“Margo?”

 

“Yeah, we’ve been looking for that key thing while you and nerd boy went cave diving.”

 

“We found it.” Q held up the box so proud of himself.

“Good. Let’s get back to the ship before this island does anything else.” 

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“There were like three earthquakes while you were gone.”

 

“Yeah we felt them, that’s part of how we found the key and how we got back here.”

 

“Ok well story time can be back on the boat. Let’s go.” 

 

We all gathered our things and headed back to the Muntjac. Once there we pulled the box with the key out and set it with the other one. 

 

“Ok, so now we have two.”

 

“Yes and we need to see where to find the third.” I picked up the box from the second key and didn’t see anything written on it. “Where’s our hint? This one has no writing on it.” 

 

“Let me see it.” Margo took the box from me and looked it over. “Great, nothing.” 

 

“Well the box did have this paper with it.” Q pulled out the small scrap of paper he had in his pocket. 

 

Margo grabbed it and looked at it. “It just has some poem on it.”

 

“Yeah we already figured out what that was for.”

 

“Wait!!” Benedict yelled. “Let me see that.” He took the small paper from Q and scurried over to his container of maps. He pulled out a small map from the back. He put the map on the table and carefully unrolled it. It looked very old and worn. I watched as he carefully weighted down the corners and slowly unrolled the map. It had a corner missing. “Yes, that’s it!” He set the small piece of paper down at the corner and it fit perfectly. “That island there. That’s our hint.” He pointed to a small island in the corner of the map now made complete with the scrap from the key. 

 

“Ok, small random map island it is. Onward to glory.”


End file.
